A New Beginning
by amanda.xo
Summary: Chapter 11 consits of, how will Chase react to Brooke's confession, will he return her feelings? What will Nathan tell Rachel when he finally catches up to her. Will Peyton and Lucas finally have sex? All of this is coming up in Chapter 11 . stay tuned
1. Chapter 1

This story is based with a new beginning. so forget the marriage vows, the love triangles, the people who have left, the siblings characters might or may have not had. the storylines that Mark the creator used. forget all of it. this is a new story, based in tree hill, yes. same character names, yes. Same characters, no.

A warn you, the first chapter is quite long, but it explains everything so please don't take a look at it and say oh it's too long for me.

Please Give it a shot. i really worked hard on it. I would love to hear your comments and reviews. ideas are welcomed. thanks

- Amanda. (enojoy you guys.)

**A New Beginning**

It was the first day back to school. It was their third year in high school, but everything was different this year. No one knew each other, and if anyone had known each other they were either neighbours or were transferred together. You see, Tree Hill High was constructed in the summer, and all students attending High Schools in North Carolina and some even in South Carolina that lived in Tree Hill were transferred to the new local High School. The town figured it would be a lot easier for the residents of Tree Hill to not have to travel to go to school. There were hundreds of school in North and South Carolina area that many Tree Hill residents attended. A lot of parents were pleased with the mayor's decision, but the kids being transferred, not so much.

There were a lot of nervous students like Haley James who was no doubt an honour student but didn't have many friends but she did have her best friend Lucas Scott, and his half brother Nathan Scott. Haley had always had a crush on Nathan, but never bothered telling him, that would cause way too much drama.

But other students, like Brooke Davis walked into Tree Hill High with a smile on her face, with positive attitude and with her best friends Rachel Gattina and Peyton Sawyer by her side.

Lucas and Nathan met Haley at her locker. Haley slammed her locker door to show her frustration.

"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed…" Lucas said.

"These lockers are way too small." Haley said, "My books don't fit."

"Our books fit fine…" Nathan told her.

Nathan opened Haley's locker and took a look inside. She had a lot of stuff she didn't need. The thing that caught Nathan's eye was a fuzzy blue pocket folder. He took it out of the locker with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"What the hell is this?" Nathan asked shaking his head.

Haley looked at the guys who were looking at her like she was crazy.

"What?" Haley screamed, she didn't seem to think anything was wrong with it, "it's a homework organiser. I thought it was cute…"

Brooke, Rachel and Peyton walked down the hall in their mini skirts and tank-tops. All the guys watched them like they were goddesses. It was like they were the center of the universe. Haley rolled her eyes when she saw them.

"See now, that's what I hate…" Haley said as she faced the boys who were starring at the girls. She rolled her eyes and hit them.

Nathan and Lucas snapped out of it and saw an angry Haley standing in front of them.

"What?" they both said together.

They had confused looks on their faces. Haley walked off to homeroom with her books close to her. Nathan and Lucas followed her. The bell rang and they took their seats. There was no teacher in the room, so Brooke and Peyton walked over to Rachel who was fixing her hair in the back of the room. Nathan turned around to face Lucas and told him that the redhead that was sitting 2 rows over was really hot. Lucas took a look and nodded. A tall, very handsome man walked into the room, he walked over to the blackboard and wrote "Mr. Williams". He then turned to the class and was about to start the day's lesson when he saw that Brooke and her friends had continued their conversations. He cleared his throat to grab their attention, but there was no reaction.

"Miss Davis…could you and your friends please take your seats so I can teach my class." He finally said.

Brooke looked at the man, and raised her eyebrows; she hadn't realized that the teacher had come in. "How do you know who I am?"

"Because when I worked at NCHS, your sister Mackenzie did the same thing on her first day. And there is a Davis in my classroom. Plus you two look so much alike."

"You taught me sister?" Brooke said with a shocked face.

"Yes I did." Mr. Williams replied.

"That's so cool." Brooke said excitingly

The class was laughing. Brooke couldn't help it, she was a comedian. It just came out naturally. Mr. Williams was being entertained but realized he had a job to do.

"Miss Davis…your seat."

"Right…" Brooke said as she took her seat, "Please continue sir."

Mr. Williams laughed and turned to the blackboard again and wrote "experiences" under his name.

"Alright, now that Miss Davis has taken her seat, we can start today's lesson," he said as he pointed to the word he had just written on the board. "Experiences. Who can give me an example of a new experience for people in this class".

"Having your first kiss…"Rachel shouted out, knowing it wasn't the right answer. I mean, who hasn't had their first kiss when you're a junior.

"Yes, Miss Gattina. I know you meant it as a joke, but it is true. We all know you've done a lot more then kiss, but people your age have not had their first kisses yet believe it or not. So that answer is acceptable Miss Gattina. Good work.

Brooke and Peyton bursted out laughing, as did some other people. Haley just put her head down, she was one of the students that Mr. Williams was talking about, a junior that hadn't even had her first kiss.

"What are you two laughing about Misses Davis and Sawyer?"

"Nothing…" Peyton said.

"No, we are laughing about something. I'm sorry sir. But who hasn't had they're first kiss at our age." Brooke asked.

"Lots of people Ms. Davis." Mr. Williams told her.

"Did you have your first kiss before becoming a junior?" Brooke asked with a serious look on her face.

The class started to laugh as Mr. Williams smirked. Brooke really wanted an answer.

"Miss Davis, is it your mission to comment on everything I say?" he asked her.

"Well, it's my duty as a student sir." Brooke said with a smile.

"Alright, well to answer your question, yes, I had had my first kiss before junior year." Mr. Williams, "Is that all?"

"No…" Brooke said, "Who was she?" Now she was doing it on purpose.

"Okay, that's enough Brooke."

"Sorry sir. I'm just curious." Brooke responded.

The class continued. People were suggesting different experiences but Haley noticed that none of the experiences being said by the students were the one that Mr. Williams wanted to talk about to the class. Haley raised her hand. Mr. Williams looked over to her.

"Yes…Miss…" Mr. Williams said looking down the attendance list.

"James…" Haley said.

"Ah, yes. Miss James." Mr. Williams responded.

"The experience of a new beginning, what I mean is the experience of high school. The experiences that we will chose to have in high school. We all are having a fresh new start. You may have done things you regret at your previous high school. But now your at a new school, barely anyone knows who you are. It's a new beginning. The experiences that we will chose like making new friends, getting involved in different activities like drama club or a sports team." Haley said proudly.

"Very well said Miss James," Mr. Williams stated, he continued, "High School is filled with new experiences…"

"Nice one Hales," Nathan whispered.

Haley smiled and continued listening to Mr. Williams, "What makes experiences worth wild is if you have a list of things you want to accomplish. That's actually a good idea, for homework I want you to find 3 things you would like to accomplish in the next 2 years."

The bell rang and the students got up and left the classroom.

"That was a fun first class eh Hales?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, looks like I was worried for nothing."

"You only enjoyed it because you got the answer right." Nathan said.

Haley opened her locker, took a look at her schedule and took out her books for that class.

"What do you guys have now?" Haley asked.

"Science." Lucas said

"I've got current events" Nathan replied

"With Rossier?" Haley asked Nathan.

"Yeah."

"Cool. We're in the same class." Haley said closing her locker.

Lucas said bye to them and headed towards the science hallway. The next two periods flew by and before you knew it, it was lunch.

Brooke walked into the cafeteria to find Rachel and Peyton laughing together. Brooke walked over to the table, sat down and pouted.

"What's the matter B. Davis?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, you don't look your cheery self you look sad." Rachel added.

"That's because I am sad!" Brooke exclaimed, "Jason Vartan hasn't looked at me all day!!"

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Oh my God. What a shame!" she said sarcastically.

"It's not funny. I flipped my hair, bit my lip, and nothing!" Brooke said.

Jason Vartan was Brooke's new crush. He had been captain of the football team at NCHS. One of her friends from NCHS had told her in the summer that he was transferred to Tree Hill High. She had also heard that he was quite a catch from her sister Mack, and she was right. He was gorgeous, he had chocolate wavy hair, beautiful green eyes, and a killer smile that made you get all tingly inside when you saw it. Brooke told the girls that Emily Davidson, (her friend from NCHS) told her that he was on the market as of last week. He dumped his girlfriend, and Brooke couldn't be happier. At that very moment Jason walked into the cafeteria, walked passed the table that Brooke and the girls were sitting at and smiled when he saw his friends. He walked over to them and sat down. Brooke watched him and sighed.

"Brooke? Brooke!" Peyton said waving her hand in front of Brooke's face.

Brooke starred down at her salad and twirled her fork around a tomato. She looked over at Jason again and sighed once more.

"I give up!" Peyton said.

"Brooke!" Rachel yelled.

"Yeah." Brooke replied.

"What was the first thing I taught you about getting a guy!" Rachel asked her.

Brooke shrugged, how was she supposed to remember?

"You have to play hard to get! Guys love things they can't have!"

"Right…"

"You have to act like you aren't interested." Rachel told her.

"But I am interested" Brooke said as she looked over at him again, "very interested."

"You can't make him think that." Peyton said, "we'll help you."

"Yeah. I'm a total natural." Rachel stated.

Brooke and Peyton glared at her. Rachel was probably the easiest girl at school.

"Fine, I give it away too easily. Don't be like me, be like Peyton!" Rachel told Brooke.

"Me?" Peyton said.

"Yeah…I'm going to act like a chick that hasn't had a boyfriend in more then a year. Yeah right." Brooke said sticking her tongue out at Peyton. Peyton looked around and told Brooke to shut up.

"I thought we said we were never going to talk about that in public."

The bell rang, lunch was over. Haley asked the guys what they had next. They all had different classes. Haley arrived to class early. She sat at the first desk in the front row. Only three other students were in the class. A short blond haired woman came into the room, took a look at the students that were in her class and smiled.

"I love it when they give me big classes" she said sarcastically.

The bell rang and almost the whole class arrived. Everyone took their seats and the blond haired woman begin the day's lesson.

"My name is Mrs. Broden. I don't mind if you call me Mrs. B. I will be teaching you science this year. In this class you will learn…" Mrs. Broden was interrupted by 3 girls who claimed to have been lost.

"You will learn to be on time Misses Sawyer, Gattina and Davis."

"Yes Mrs. Broden." They all said together with their heads down to look like they were actually sorry.

Mrs. Broden showed them to their seats and the girls winked at each other, they got away with something else.

"As I was saying…you will be practising different experiments in our lab next door." She told everyone.

"Awesome" screamed a guy from the back. Everyone turned to see who it was. No surprise, it was Adam Andrews, the student that won the science fair last year, as a matter of fact, he had won all the science fairs since the 3rd grade.

"Awesome indeed Mr. Andrews." Now, in the lab we don't have enough equipment for all of you, so you will be partnered up."

Everyone turned to their friends and asked if they wanted to be each other's partners.

"No need for that. I will be pairing you off myself."

Mrs. Broden walked up to student's desks and started pairing people off. Rachel and Peyton were paired up together. They were pretty excited, but looked over at Brooke who was heartbroken. She had been counting on Mrs. Broden to pair her up with one of them. That's what really sucked about groups of 3, there was always someone out of the loop.

"Let's see…Brooke…" Mrs. Broden said.

"Please, don't let me get paired up with a geek with headgear." Brooke said to herself.

"And Haley." She continued.

Brooke looked around to see who Haley was. Haley realized that Brooke didn't know who she was so she gave a little wave. Brooke saw Haley's wave and nodded. Once everyone was paired off, Mrs. Broden assigned a list of questions for the lab partners to answer together. She gave some class time. Brooke walked over to Haley's desk and sat down next to her.

"Hey, I'm Brooke."

"Yeah I know, my sister and your sister are like best friends."

"Which one?"

"Ah…Brittany, her best friend Taylor."

"Oh, you're Tay-Tay's little sister."

"Haley…actually."

"Right… sorry."

"It's okay."

"So about this science homework…"

"I'll give you my number." Brooke said as she took out a piece of paper. She wrote her number down and handed the paper to Haley just as the bell rang.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. At the end of the day, there was a pink convertible parked with two impatient blondes waiting. Brooke, Peyton and Rachel ran over to them and shrieked. Brooke and Rachel's sisters had dyed their hair. They looked really different, but really good.

"I didn't think you were actually going to do it sis." Brooke said.

"Meh, I needed a change from that ugly brown mom gave us." Brittany replied.

"I didn't know you were dying your hair too Mel?" Rachel said.

"I wasn't," Melanie told her, "but Brit's turned out so good that I just had to."

"Does mom know?"

"No."

"You're so screwed."

Lucas, Nathan and Haley walked home together. Once they arrived at Lucas's house, they headed for the bedroom, but they were cut off by Lucas's mom. She was cleaning the dishes; she looked like she needed help so they decided to help her. A tall brown haired male walked into the kitchen, his arms full with groceries. Karen, Lucas's mom, went to go help him. She kissed him and started unloading the groceries into the fridge.

"How was school son?" he asked.

"It was really good, Lucas said, "I think I'm going to like it at Tree Hill High."

"Keith, can you help me with this watermelon, it's a little heavy." Karen said.

Keith wasn't Lucas's real father, but his uncle. He was the one who helped Karen raise Lucas, and that's what Karen fell in love with (despite his other amazing qualities) Keith and Karen got married when Lucas was 5, and Keith adopted Lucas as his own son a couple of months before.

Deb, Nathan's mom was living with them until she could find her own way to support both Nathan and herself. She didn't want to take Nathan's real father, Dan's money. The five of them were living happily under the same roof for now.

The girls were listening and dancing to loud music in Brooke's room.

"Can you keep it down in there" they heard Brooke's older, hotter, brother say from the room over.

"No!" they screamed through the door.

The three of them laughed and grabbed a handful of popcorn. The doorbell rang, and someone downstairs got it. They yelled for Brooke to go downstairs because there was someone really special at the door for her. She ran down the stairs, hoping it was her grandparents with presents from France. But it wasn't her grandparents, it was another familiar face that she hadn't seen all summer long. She ran into his arms and gave him a big hug.

"How was your trip?" she asked him.

"So great. There are so many hot babes in Cuba, it's scary. But I really missed you."

"I really missed you too. I'm so glad you're back Chase." Brooke said giving him another hug.

Chase and Brooke had been best friends since before they were even born. Both moms got pregnant around the same time, and they were both really good friends, so even if they didn't like each other, they had to see each other. They also met everyday at Mommy and Me classes. They were 5 days apart, Chase was the older one. He had went on a Caribbean cruise with his older brother and his girlfriend. Chase had called Brooke twice but couldn't call her anymore because it was too expensive, they also had emailed when Chase could, but it wasn't the same as talking in person.

Lucas and Nathan lay on the bed tossing a football to each other as Haley sat on a chair facing them and watched them.

"What was the best part of you day?" Lucas asked.

"Spending time with the best two friends I have." Haley replied.

"Aw, that's sweet." Lucas told her, "Nate?"

Nate was thinking about it, a lot of good stuff happened, "Talking to Rachel Gattina."

"You talked?" Lucas jumped up.

"Yeah, well kinda. She dropped her pen, I picked it up and she said thanks."

"We're so proud Nate." Haley said sarcastically.

"It's going to be an awesome year you guys" Lucas said.

"Yeah, like Mr. Williams said, it's time for new experiences and a new beginning."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first week of school passed pretty quickly. All the clubs and sports team tryouts were starting that week. Lots of people were excited to see where they would fit in at Tree Hill High. Brooke, Peyton and Rachel were talking about the cheer tryouts. It had been a tradition for them to be on the squad together, after all, it was the first place they met. Nathan and Lucas were thinking about trying out for the football team. Haley had made some new friends in science class, and they had asked her to join the chess club. Haley didn't really want to be part of the chess club, but told them she would think about it. What grabbed Haley's attention was the tutoring centre.

* * *

Brittany dropped Brooke and Chase off at school right before lunch ended, they had a few minutes to talk so they headed to the bleachers together and sat down. Brooke looked over at the boys who were practicing for today's football tryout after school. She saw Jason's beautiful smile, shining her way as he threw the ball to a friend of his. Brooke was admiring Jason, and sighed when she saw his muscles flex when he caught the ball. Jason and Brooke hadn't really talked during the first week of school. Actually he hadn't even looked at her. Brooke turned to Chase and asked him for his help.

"Talk to him for you?" Chase asked.

"Yes, it's perfect. You two have tryouts today after school. You both will become friends and introduce us. And I'll flirt, he'll flirt and we'll be dating soon after that." Brooke said with a smile.

"I don't even know if I'm going to tryout Brooke."

"What? You're an amazing…" Brooke said as she was trying to think of the position Chase played, "Whatever it's called.

"It's called a line backer Brooke." Chase stated, "Why don't you just flirt with him as a cheerleader with you know your high kicks and short skirt. You know guys love flexible girls Brooke, I think I told you that the first day of kindergarten."

"Because I like my idea better…"

"Okay, fine. I'll try out." Chase told her.

Brooke jumped up, jumped into his arms and give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best"

"One thing you have to promise me though."

"Okay…"

"You have to promise me that you watch the tryouts."

"Why?"

"Because I might start the whole friendship with Jason thing before, in the locker room, and I have to say how hot you are. And I need you to be there so I can show him."

"Oh, I like that idea."

"But…you got to unbutton a couple buttons for me." Chase said as he leaned in and opened a couple so you could see Brooke's black bra.

"Hey!" Brooke said buttoning a button, but leaving two buttons open. You don't want to give it away too easily."

"New bra?" Chase asked.

"Yeah. I got it last week."

"It's hot."

"Thanks." Brooke said, "You're coming to the cheer tryout tomorrow right?"

"Chicks in short skirts, I'm so there."

* * *

The bell rang and everyone headed off to class. Haley was surprisingly the first one ready and met the boys at their lockers.

"We have the two easiest courses now, way to finish off the day."

"Home ec."

"Gym"

The three of them walked to home ec. and they were soon joined by Chase and Brooke.

"Hey." Brooke said.

"Hey." Haley replied.

An unfamiliar face walked down the hall, opened the home ec classroom and walked in. the class walked in and took their seats.

"I'm the sub, Mr. Trandsit. You can call me Mr. T. Your teacher hasn't assigned anything to do today so you mat talk with your friends quietly."

The class went by pretty quickly. Last was gym. It was girls with girls, and guys with guys. The guys were playing basketball, and the girls were doing palates

* * *

When the bell rang everyone headed for either a car or a bus but there were a lot of guys in the locker room. They were all talking in the changing room, the topic went from football to hot cheerleaders that were trying out for the squad the day after.

"Brooke Davis is probably going to be the hottest cheerleader; I saw her stretching before I got changed. Smoking hot. Man she's flexible." Chase said out of nowhere.

"Who?" Jason asked.

"You don't know her?"

"No…" he replied

"Man, I feel sorry for you."

"I'm Jason…" he said raising his hand for a handshake.

"Chase…" Chase replied shaking his hand.

They walked into the gym and Brooke was sitting in the stands as promised with Rachel. Peyton had gone out with a friend from Boston that came down to see her. Chase smiled, "Perfect timing Brooke." He said to himself.

Chase waved at Brooke. Brooke saw that Chase was with Jason, smiled at her, flipped her hair back and waved back at Chase. Jason saw this and it grabbed his attention.

"Who's that?" Jason said elbowing Chase

"That's Brooke!" Chase said with a smile. Jason had noticed Brooke. Chase gave a wink to Brooke. Brooke winked back.

"That's Brooke???" Jason asked pretty loudly, "You know her?"

"She's my best friend." Chase laughed.

"No shit?" Jason asked, "Lucky."

"Don't I know it."

* * *

Brooke turned around and faced Rachel, and smiled at her. Rachel took a look at Jason and Chase, and saw Jason was checking her out. She nudged Brooke. Brooke turned around slowly to not make it obvious that Rachel had told her anything. Jason nodded towards her, Brooke wanted to nod back but remembered what Rachel had told her,  
"Hard to get" she told herself, so she looked away and concentrated on the boys that were running on the court. Jason had a weird look on his face. Did he just get rejected, this had never happened to him before. He ran to the middle of the court where the coach was waiting for the boys to gather around him. Most of the girls from their grade were watching. Haley was watching from the second row. She had always supported the guys with anything they wanted to do. Plus, seeing Nathan in shorts, who would want to miss that? Rachel and Brooke looked at the boys who were running their laps. They all looked so good running in their shorts that it was really hard for Rachel to keep her eye off them. She was admiring them to a certain extent, she had a boyfriend. A much older, more mature, sophisticated boyfriend. Was she happy though? No. This guy had way too much experience for her, and was forcing her to do things she may not have wanted to do. She had been keeping this in a really long time, but finally told Brooke.

"Do you still want to date him?" Brooke asked her.

"Well yeah, I mean the chemistry is undeniable, he's smart, athletic and a really good kisser."

"So what's the matter?"

"I just want it to go a little slower."

"So tell him that."

"I can't. He'll break up with me if I do."

"Then he's a jerk who is using you Rach, and you deserve better then that."

* * *

The whistle blew and the boys stopped running and huddled. Coach Whitey instructed for each of them to find a partner and to practice throwing. Nathan went with Lucas, and Jason went with Chase. Nathan walked over to the bench and got some water.

"Hey Scott." Haley said to him and winked.

Nathan smiled, drank some water and asked her if he was any good.

"You're doing great." Haley said, "You and Luke."

"Good, cause it doesn't feel like it."

"You're doing fine." Haley reassured him, "Don't worry."

"Are you okay?"

"Just a little bored."

"Go find some friends and talk."

Nathan walked back to the court and started doing long passes with Lucas.

"If I had any friends…" Haley told herself.

* * *

Rachel whitnessed the whole conversation between Haley and Nathan and asked Brooke who the hot dark haired guy was. Brooke said she didn't know but told Rachel she did know the chick that was talking to him. Brooke called Haley over. Haley looked at Brooke and Rachel astonished. Why were they calling her over? What did they want? Brooke had NEVER talked to her before! What was this about? Haley couldn't help but wonder. She realized that none of these questions were going to be answered by her just sitting there so she got up and walked over to Brooke and Rachel. Rachel moved over to make Haley some room to sit. She sat down a little frightened.

"Hey Haley" Brooke said as she sat down

"Hi Brooke" Haley replied

"This is Rachel, Rachel meet Tay-Tay's little sister Haley."

"Nice to meet you Haley" Rachel said.

"you too."

"You were sitting by yourself so we thought we'd invite you to our convo." Rachel told her

"Oh…how thoughtful" Haley said sarcastically

"So who was that black haired boy you were just talking to?" Rachel asked.

Haley rolled her eyes. They didn't want to talk to her, well they kind of did. But they didn't want to talk to her about her, they wanted to talk to her about Nathan.

"Oh, that's Nathan," Haley said as she cleared her voice, "Nathan Scott"

"Cute name" Brooke said

"Very cute…" Rachel added, "Are you two…"

"Dating?" Haley asked as Rachel and Brooke nodded, "No, we're not dating, just friends."

"Is he dating…" Rachel said, "Anyone?"

"Nope, he's single" Haley told them

"Who's the blond throwing the football with Nathan?" Brooke asked.

"Lucas, his half brother." Haley replied.

"Is that the one Peyt likes?" Rachel asked Brooke.

Brooke nudged her and then flicked her behind the head. Only Rachel and Brooke knew that Peyton had a little crush on Lucas, and well now, his best friend knew as well.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't tell him." Haley told them

* * *

Nathan looked up in the stands to see Haley talking with Brooke and Rachel. He told Lucas to check it out. Lucas looked over and had a confused look on his face.

"This is way too funny" Nathan said throwing the football to Lucas

"Maybe Haley will talk to Rachel about you Nate." Lucas said as he received the ball.

"Doubt it, plus she has a boyfriend. And I respect that."

"Things change you know…"

* * *

Meanwhile Chase and Jason were talking about Brooke. "So you and Brooke are good friends?" he asked.

"The best…" Chase told him, "She's like my sister."

"So you know everything about her?" Jason asked

"Almost everything. Some of these girl problems I can't handle. That's why she's got Peyton and Rachel." Chase said with a smile. Jason laughed and asked if she was dating anyone.

"No. not right now anyway. Buddy, if you're interested, I warn you. She's only into college guys…"

Chase was playing with Jason now. Rachel and him had talked about Brooke having to play hard to get. Frankly, Chase wasn't good at making things up on the spot, but he was pretty happy of what he had just said.

"College guys eh?" Jason asked.

* * *

The whistle blew. Tryouts were over. Coach Whitey said that he would post the list in front of the guys' locker room in the morning before school started. He excused the guys and they headed for the locker room. Haley got up and ran towards Lucas and Nathan, and told them that they had done an awesome job, and if they didn't make the team the coach was an idiot. They blushed a little and thanked her for her kind words.

"What were you talking to Brooke and Rachel about?" Lucas asked.

"We were talking about…" Haley said as she turned to Nathan, "You."

"Me?"

"Yeah, weird eh?"

"Anything good?"

"Not really."

Lucas laughed and Nathan sighed. Haley turned to Lucas and said, "What are you laughing at? We talked about you too."

Haley walked off to the tutoring centre and left a dumb-founded Lucas and Nathan standing in the hall.

* * *

Brooke and Rachel walked over to Chase who was wiping off sweat with a towel. He smiled when he saw their faces. Chase told Rachel that the plan had started and was working. Brooke had a confused look on her face; she didn't know what they were talking about. Rachel jumped with excitement.

Haley was finishing up some math homework at the tutoring centre. It was way too loud at home to concentrate. When she was done, she picked up her books and started to walk out, when suddenly a guy bumped into her. His books went flying, as did hers.

"I'm SO sorry." Haley said.

"It's okay. It's my fault." He replied

Haley looked up at the dark haired clumsy guy and exhaled. He was really cute. He had beautiful hazel eyes, and was wearing reading glasses which gave him the older more sophisticated look. He looked really familiar, but Haley couldn't put the pieces together.

"Hi. I'm Haley" she said.

"Hey. I'm Dean." He replied


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

At lunch, the next day, everyone gathered around the locker room but the list wasn't up yet. The coach hadn't come in to school because of a family emergency but arrived just before lunch. Peyton ran next to Chase and Brooke who were waiting anxiously for the list.

"So did our boy make it?" Peyton asked.

"List isn't up yet. Did you have fun yesterday?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, lots of fun. We finished 10 seasons of Friends in a week."

"I'm so jealous," Brooke said, "We're so doing that Christmas break with Rach."

"Deal."

"Hey, what about me?" Chase asked.

"We don't want you to come." Peyton joked.

"Yeah" Brooke agreed

"Okay, fine. If that's how it's going to be" Chase said playing along.

The coach came out of his office and posted the list on the bulletin board. Everyone huddled around it like it was gold or something.

"Let me through" said Coach Whitey

They let him get back to his office but once he was out, they looked at the list hoping to find their names.

Chase waited for people to clear up to go check for his name. Once the hall was almost empty, Chase scrolled down the list and found his name. He turned to the girls and said, " I made the team!"

They went to go congratulatehim.

"We have to celebrate" Brooke said.

"We already are." Chase said.

The girls looked at him and didn't know what he was talking about.

"There's a party for all the guys that made the team and the girls who are going to make the squad.

"When?" Peyton asked.

"It's tonight" he answered.

Lucas, Nathan and Haley were walking down the hall.

"Where did you go last night?" Nathan asked.

"Oh, I was doing math in the tutoring center and then went out with this senior named Dean" Haley replied.

"Fun." Lucas said.

"Yeah, we bumped into each other, and he was really cute. He asked me out, and we went for pizza"

They finally ended up at the locker room, Nathan checked for his name first. He exhaled and scrolled down the list. Jason Vartan was named captain, then Chase, Jake, Michael, Phil, Nathan.

"6th…not bad" he told himself.

"Are you kidding?" Haley said, "That's awesome!"

Nathan stepped aside so Lucas could check. He scrolled down the list down the list. He was passed more then half the names by now and still didn't see his name. The last name on the list said Lucas Scott. Lucas smiled, "I made the team"

The bell rang and everyone went to class. In English, Mr. Williams was talking about the story about the Trojans and Greeks.

"Now, was there really a reason for Agamemnon to join his brother fight against Troy?" Mr. Williams asked.

Brooke wrote something down on a piece of paper and tried to pass it to Haley.

There was a knock on the door, Mr. Williams opened the door and Jason came in.

"Everyone, this is Mr. Vartan, he was transferred to my English class, so please make him feel welcomed. Jason sat near Brooke; Brooke tried to grab Haley's attention to give her the note. Mr. Williams saw Brooke, smiled and shook his head. He walked in the back of the class just as Brooke threw the paper to Haley. Mr. Williams caught it in the air, opened it, and read it out loud.

"Are you trying out today for the squad?" Mr. Williams said impersonating Brooke.

The class laughed and Brooke smiled, Haley gave her a weird look, and Brooke shrugged.

"Ms James, would you like to respond?" Mr. Williams said.

"On paper or out loud?" Haley asked, as the class laughed even harder.

"Take a guess…" he said sarcastically.

Haley turned to Brooke, "No, I wasn't planning on it."

Mr. Williams crumpled the paper and put it in the garbage.

"There is your answer Ms. Davis, so can we please get back to the Greeks and the Trojans…?"

"Hold that thought Mr. Williams, "Brooke said holding out her finger, "I would like to respond."

The class was laughing so hard now that one person actually fell off his chair. Mr. Williams couldn't help to laugh but listened to what Brooke had to say.

"I mean sir, if you're not letting me right it down on paper, then why can't I voice it?"

"Fine…" Mr. Williams said still laughing.

"Haley…you have an amazing body! You would be an awesome cheerleader!"

"Are you girls done?"

"Yes. Yes we are" Brooke said proudly.

"Miss Davis, is it your mission to interrupt every single one of my classes?" Mr. Williams asked.

"Seriously…" Brooke said, "No."

"Good. Now maybe you can answer my question."

"Right…" Brooke said, "Well, I think Agamemnon only wanted to go to Troy because of power. He controlled most of Greece, he odds were on his sides, and if Greece beat Troy, then the leader which happened to be Agamemnon would gain the land of Troy which would mean even more power. That is the reason I think Agamemnon went to Troy, not for his sister-in-law. I've read ahead, and it's just horrible what happens."

"You read ahead Miss Davis?" he asked astonished.

"Yeah I know, weird right? But, it's a really good book."

"Miss Davis has brought up a great point. Agamemnon was a king, power got to his head. Agamemnon took the opportunity to rule Troy once the Greeks won. Nobody else was going to take the place of king. His brother only went for Helene, not to rule land."

Brooke smiled and looked at her friends who were starring in aw.

The bell rang for class to be over and everyone walked out. Mr. Williams told Brooke to stay behind. She stood at his desk and told her that he was very impressed with her performance in class that day and told her to keep it up.

"Thanks sir. I really have to go though. I have cheer tryouts and I'm nervous already." Brooke said.

"Well, good luck"

"Thanks."

Brooke walked out of the class and saw Rachel and Peyton waiting for her at the end of the hall.

"You ready to cheer B. Davis?"

"I was born ready!" Brooke said with a squeal

"Hales, you really should tryout for the squad." Nathan said.

"Why?"

"Because it looks like Brooke wants to be friends with you" Lucas said.

"And we're kind of scared you don't have enough girl friends Hales" Nathan told her.

"Well thanks for worrying, but I have the two friends I need."

"Hales…come on, what are you going to do tonight? We're going to the party." Lucas said.

"Fine, I'll tryout. But if I start liking it, I swear I'll kill you." Haley said.

The guys headed for the gym. Haley went to the changing room. The guys sat on the benches and waited.

It was Peyton's turn. She did her routine with beautiful form; her high kicks were off the charts and she ended in the splits. The guys applauded as did Mme. Plante, the coach. Peyton got up and took a little bow. Brooke was up next. Brooke loved cheerleading and she was really good at it. She did a very complicated routine, one that her sister Mack showed her. She made one mistake but it was hardly noticeable, she too landed in the splits. Some of the guys actually got up and clapped their hands for her. Rachel was next up. She had only done cheerleading one year. She was really flexible, she had done gymnastics since she was 5. Rachel's routine was full of back flips and front flips and high jumps. It was great having a gymnast on the team especially against Bear Creek at the Sparkle Classic Competition.

Haley was up. She exhaled, "Just like gymnastics" she told herself. She was trembling, she was so scared. The music started and she just starting moving to the music. Hey routine wasn't bad, but it needed work. She amazed Mme. Plante with a back flip. She got off the gym floor and ran towards Brooke, "I sucked didn't I?"

"No, you were good."

"Yeah, I was impressed with your back flip" Rachel said.

After the tryouts were done Mme. Plante called out the girls names that had made it on the squad. Brooke was named captain of the squad, the guys cheered. Rachel and Peyton's names were called next. A couple of other names were called, and then Haley's name was called. Lucas and Nathan stood up and clapped. Brooke informed the squad that there was a party that night and everyone was invited.

"Congrats Haley." Brooke said, "You're coming to the party right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, we'll see you there." Brooke said as she left with Peyton and Rachel. They were going to get ready at Rachel's house. Haley found Nathan and Lucas. They congratulated her. Luke lifted her up and spun her around. They walked out of the school and went to go get ready for the party.

The girls were deciding on what to wear from Rachel's closet. Rachel's closet was full of clothes, you wanted it, she had it.

"I want to wear a halter with jeans." Peyton stated.

"What color?" Rachel said searching threw her closet.

"Red halter, black jeans." Peyton said.

Rachel took out 3 different red halters and gave them to Peyton. She also threw a pair of Juicy Couture jeans.

"Are these new?"

"Yeah, got them yesterday."

Rachel took out a silver flashy top out, those tops that have a tank top and then have another layer that hangs low. She also took out a cute leather white skirt.

"This is what I'm wearing" Rachel said showing it off to her best friends.

"Very hot." Peyton told her.

"I don't know what to wear…" Brooke said.

Peyton put on her outfit. She looked amazing in jeans, and the ones Rachel gave her fit perfectly. Rachel put on her outfit and looked a lot older then she was, she looked 20. Chase knocked on the open door and stuck his head in the room.

"Come on in" Rachel told him.

Chase walked into the room. He looked so good with his jeans and pink dress shirt, with a black wife-beater underneath.

"You look fab babe" Brooke told him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks," Chase said, "What are you wearing tonight?"

"I don't know." Brooke said, "Help me!"

Chase walked into the closet and said, "You know, tonight's the night where Jason and Brooke talk for the first time."

Brooke screamed "WHAT!"

"Well, you knew it was coming sooner or later" Rachel said as she was admiring herself in the mirror.

Brooke started freaking out, "Guys, I'm going to screw this up"

"No you're not, because we're going to help you." Peyton said.

"Let's find you an outfit first" Rachel told her.

Peyton and Rachel headed for the closet. Rachel took out a beautiful yellow halter dress. Brooke took off her jeans and shirt and tried it on.

"Wait!" screamed Rachel as she ran back to the closet. She brought out a pair of high-heeled black leather boots and an oversized black belt. Brooke freaked out at the sight of the boots. She put them on and spun around as she looked in the mirror.

"That has pick-me-up all over it Brooke" Rachel said with a smile

"It's perfect" Peyton replied

"Brooke, you look really sexy. I swear if you weren't into another guy I'd hit on you" Chase joked. Brooke giggled. Her and Chase always flirted for fun, but was Chase doing this for fun or was he serious? Times had changed, he didn't think girls were icky and she didn't think boys had cooties anymore. But Brooke couldn't think about this right now. She liked Jason, and that's how it was going to stay…for now.

Rachel was the one that did everyone's make-up while Brooke did everyone's hair. Rachel worked on Peyton, while Brooke worked on Chase. Rachel put dark pink eye shadow, black mascara and eyeliner. She added a little pink to her cheeks. Brooke spiked Chase's hair, and curling some of the spikes with her finger. They switched and everyone looked awesome once they were done.

Brooke still needed help with the whole hard to get thing.

"You have to head him on, but don't mean it." Peyton suggested

"Flirt but don't mean it." Rachel suggested

"Take off your shirt…" Chase said out of the blue, he took a look at the girls who had stunned and confused looks on their faces, "Just kidding"

One thing was for sure, this party was going to be awesome.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nathan, Lucas and Haley were one of the first ones to arrive at the party. There was a dance floor upstairs where the DJ was and a bar on the main floor. Haley walked over to the DJ. Dean was the DJ of the party.

"What are you doing here?" Haley asked him

"I'm DJing for the party." Dean said pointing to the music, "Congrats on making the squad."

"You were there?"

"Yeah I saw your routine, it was really good."

"Thanks. Oh, Dean this is Luke and that's Nathan." Haley introduced the guys, "Guys, meet Dean."

The guys shock hands and Dean said that he had to run because there was a problem with one of the speakers but that he would talk to Haley later. As it got later more people showed up and started dancing after they downed a couple of drinks. Chase and the girls walked in. Haley saw them and walked over to them with the guys.

"Does everyone know each other here?" Haley asked.

Everyone introduced themselves to the group.

"Good. Now this will be our base." Brooke said.

Lucas was eyeing Peyton, he asked her if he could buy her a drink. Peyton smiled and nodded. They walked off together to the bar. Haley saw Dean was by himself by the music and walked over to him. Chase saw Jason walk in and told Brooke. She turned around and gasped.

"Come with me Chase!" Brooke pleaded him.

Chase rolled his eyes and put his arm around her. She smiled and they walked over to Jason's group together. Rachel was looking around like she just lost something.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just looking for my boyfriend" Rachel said.

Nathan's head went right. Of course she was looking for her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, I must be making a horrible first impression."

"No, no. I'll help you find him."

Rachel smiled, she took out a picture of them together kissing in a photo booth. They looked for him together but there was no sight of him. Nathan wanted to make a move but couldn't.

"You want to dance?" he asked really fast. Hey, it was out.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I mean…it's … a p-party … and there's dancing… and I thought, maybe you'd…" Nathan stuttered.

"You need to get better at the whole flirting thing" Rachel said with a smile

"Yeah, I haven't had a lot of experience."

Rachel smiled and held out her hands "Let's dance"

They walked up to the dance floor and started dancing. The song ended and a slow song came on. Nathan hesitated, should he slow dance with a girl that was in a relationship? He decided that it wouldn't be cool, so he stopped dancing. Rachel grabbed his hands and put them on her waist. Rachel put her arms around Nathan's neck. They danced together to "Tonight I want to cry by Keith Urban"

"If you want to be good, you have to practice." Rachel instructed Nathan.

Nathan stopped and offered her a drink. Rachel realized that he was feeling a little awkward so she accepted his offer.

Peyton and Lucas were sitting by the side of the bar. They both ordered rum and coke.

"So where did you go to school?" Lucas asked her

"Burkwood" Peyton answered, "What about you?"

"Bear Creek" he answered

"Are you dating anyone?" she asked

"No, what about you?"

"Nah."

Lucas nodded and smiled. He liked Peyton, and since she was single, he could make a move. He felt bad for Nathan though, Rachel had a boyfriend. Lucas looked at Peyton in the eyes.

"You know what?" Peyton asked

"What?"

"You're really hot."

Lucas laughed, that was what he wanted to hear.

"Sorry…" she said

"No it's fine, because I find you really hot too."

Lucas turned towards Peyton.

"Peyton?"

"Yeah"

"May I kiss you?"

Peyton smiled. He brushed her curly blond hair behind her ear and kissed her gently.

Brooke and Chase walked over to Jason and some of his friends. Jason's friends walked off to go get some drinks. Chase saw a group of girls and walked over to them. This was it. The moment Brooke was waiting for. They both laughed because neither of them were talking. Wow, not only was his smile perfect, his laughter was an awesome sound.

"Hi." She finally said

"Hi" he replied as he moved a little closer.

"Brooke Davis…"

"Jason Vartan…"

"Attached?"

"Not yet…" Jason said with a smile

"Likewise" Brooke giggled

"Your audition was really great." Jason told her.

"Thanks…You didn't look too bad throwing a football either."

"Ah…so you've been watching me?" Jason raised his eyebrows.

"Well…you know…" Brooke said trying to think of something on the spot, "You were…hanging out with my best friend Chase and I glanced at you."

"So I hear you made captain of the squad?"

"You heard right."

"I'm the captain of the football team, you're the head cheerleader, I'm obligated to buy you dinner."

Brooke smiled; this is what she was dying to hear. But Brooke remembered what Rachel said. "Hard to get" She had been flirting, maybe a little too much like Peyton said, "Flirt but don't mean it." Jason was waiting for an answer impatiently.

"As nice as that would probably be, I'm going to have to pass." Brooke said as she turned around and started walking off.

"What? Are you busy or something?" Jason called after her.

"Yeah, sure I'm busy. Gotta go. Bye." Brooke said quickly, turned around and smiled. Jason stood there stunned, that had NEVER happened to him before.

Rachel had taken down about 7 shots and she kept them coming. Guys were watching her move from side to side, she was a little tipsy. Nathan got back from the bathroom to see a guy put his arm around Rachel and whisper something in her ear. Rachel was trying to fight him off but she couldn't. He looked around and lifted Rachel and brought her outside. Nathan didn't like the look of this and followed them. He wasn't going to let anything happen. Rachel was kicking for him to let her go. Nathan told them to let her go. The guy asked why should he. Nathan had a feeling that this was going to get ugly.

"Put her down," Nathan demanded, "You can't honestly think of taking advantage of a girl who doesn't know what's going on."

"Oh, and who's going to stop me?"

"I am!" Nathan stood up.

The guy put Rachel down on a chair, rolled up his sleeves and took a swing, Nathan ducked and threw a punch too. He hit him right on the nose, and his nose started bleeding. A tall man, the owner of the place came to interrupt the fight.

"What's going on?"

"This perve is trying to take advantage of this girl who's had a little too much to drink." Nathan said.

"Tony, take the perve out."

Nathan walked over to Rachel and sat down next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks to you." Rachel said.

"Don't worry about it."

"No, you were really brave"

Rachel kissed him on the cheek and said thanks. Nathan gave her a glass of water and had a bucket next to him. Rachel took the bucket and threw up in it.

"Pretty…" Nathan said sarcastically

Dean and Haley were sitting at the DJ booth talking about the same interests they shared.

"I can't believe you like Bon Jovi!"

"Are you kidding he's awesome."

"Wow, you're not the standard cheerleader. Like my sister, she's a cheerleader and she hates bon jovi. Dean said, "I mean, they all listen to techno crap and the good music is never admired anymore."

"I know, I feel the same way."

Dean leaned forward a little for what Haley thought was a kiss. She pushed back, she wasn't quite there yet.

"Haley, I like you. I'm not looking for anything in well…sexual terms. I just want you to like me as much as I like you."

"Dean, that was really beautiful."

"Thanks I've rehearsed it about 100 times." Dean joked. Haley laughed.

She had never really let anyone in before. Then again, she never liked anyone else except for Nathan. She never thought about letting others in. But Dean appeared to be the real deal to her. He was wiling to wait and that was huge especially at his age.

Dean kissed Haley. She had never done this before. It felt good, really good. What if she was doing it wrong. She felt his tongue on hers. She opened her eyes. "Wow that's one slimy tongue." She said to herself. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss. It was a great kiss until a girl that was standing right in front of them cleared her throat. They both looked up to see a confused look on Brooke's face.

"You two know each other?" Brooke asked.

"Sis, it's fine." Dean told her.

"Sis?" Haley shrieked.

"Yeah, you're making out my brother Haley" Brooke yelled, "Welcome to the family!" Brooke stormed off furiously.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After Rachel had threw up almost every liquid in her body, Nathan took the bucket away. He got up, brushed off his pants and asked Rachel to dance with confidence. She smiled, and accepted. He took her hand, lifted her up, and took her to the dance floor. Rachel had somehow given him more confidence in himself. He would have never asked a girl that he knew for an hour to dance. But something about Rachel made him confident and he realized it too. They started dancing, Nathan wasn't too bad of a dancer, still needed work, a lot of work as a matter of fact. But he was good enough that Rachel didn't feel embarrassed to dance with him, like he thought. Nathan looked over to the other couples that were dancing. He saw a guy that looked like Rachel's boyfriend grinding with a blond he had never seen before. Nathan stopped dancing and watched him with a curious look on his face. Rachel turned around and saw her boyfriend dancing inappropriately with some chick from his university that she had met a couple weeks ago. She looked at Nathan, then looked down and exhaled, "It's him isn't it?" asked Nathan. Rachel nodded and walked over to them, threw the blond down on the ground and faced him. She slapped him across the face.

"You bastard." Rachel screamed and starting hitting him, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you"

It looked like he was coming to apologize or say something, but she slapped him again and pushed him off. Brooke came to see what was going on. Nathan told her that Rachel's boyfriend was cheating on her. Brooke's heart fell, she knew exactly what kind of pain Rachel was going threw. It had happened to her before and she would never want it to happen to anyone let alone her best friend. Nathan pulled Rachel away from the cheating scumbag and brought her outside to try to calm her down. Brooke saw this as an opportunity to help Rachel out. She ran to the cheater and slapped him across the face.

"How dare you cheat on her!" she said with a slap, "You don't deserve her." Brooke slapped him again. She still had a lot from her boyfriend cheating on her and she was letting it out on Rachel's cheating boyfriend. She knew her anger about her boyfriend was thrown in the wrong place, but Brooke felt like all cheaters deserved this. Chase broke threw the crowd and lifted Brooke over his shoulder and brought her outside too. She was kicking and screaming for Chase to let her go.

"Boy you're getting heavy" Chase said.

"Shut up!" Brooke said, "I'm only 117 pounds!"

He brought her outside and sat her down next to Rachel. Chase and Nathan cornered the girls like they were in a counseling session. They told them to let it go and that the guy was a jerk. Brooke and Rachel took a breather. Nathan brought them each a cup of water. They took it and drank quickly.

"You know, I saw this coming, but I didn't do anything about it." Rachel told them, "I should have broken up with that loser a long time ago."

Brooke patted Rachel on the back. She gave Rachel a hug. Peyton and Lucas came outside to meet them. Peyton's hair was messed up and Lucas's buttons were undone.

"What's going on?" Peyton asked the girls

"Hun, we can ask you the same question" Rachel said looking at Lucas and Peyton up and down with a smile.

Peyton ran her hand threw her hair and Lucas did 2 buttons on his shirt.

"Interesting…" Rachel said.

"Alright! Alright!" Peyton screamed, "We made out!"

Lucas looked stunned at Peyton, she had just told her friends, and he wasn't expecting that. Peyton shrugged. They made out; they shouldn't have to hide it. Chase looked at his watch, and told the gang it was getting late and they should get going soon.

"Where's Haley?" Nathan asked.

"Making out with my brother" Brooke said.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, caught her right handed." Brooke said and got really mad.

Haley came to join the group but didn't get a good vibe from them.

"Hey everyone," she said with a smile, and then looked at Brooke, "Hey Brooke."

Brooke rolled her eyes and walked away. Haley followed her and told her to wait up. Brooke stopped walked and turned to face Haley.

"I'm sorry." Haley blurted out.

"You're sorry?" Brooke asked, "Sorry about what?"

"I'm sorry that you had to see my brother and I kissing." Haley told her

"Really? Are you?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, I am." Haley replied.

"If you're sorry, promise me you won't do it again." Brooke told her

"Brooke, I can't promise you that" Haley said looking down, "I really like him."

"You don't even know him!" Brooke yelled

"But I want to" Haley replied

"He's MY brother. I love him very much. He just got out of a very serious relationship and he's not ready to date!" Brooke screamed.

"And how would you know that?"

"Because he's my brother and I know him inside and out Haley!"

"You can't make that call."

"Yeah I can."

Brooke walked away and left to go to Chase's car. Chase headed over to the car when he saw Brooke waiting for him impatiently. Peyton asked Luke if he wanted to go to her house for the night. Lucas said, "Sure why not?" and they left in Lucas's car. Rachel wanted to stay a little longer; since she didn't have a ride, Nathan stayed with her.

Brooke's phone started ringing in the car. She picked it up but didn't recognize the number. She opened it and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Jason."

"Hard to get" she told herself

"Who?" she said.

"Jason…" Jason said, after a couple seconds, "Jason Vartan…"

"Oh hey!" Brooke said like she just realized who she was talking to.

"I know you said you were busy tomorrow"

"I did."

"So what about Sunday breakfast?" Jason asked, "And you can hardly call that a date. Sunday breakfast is usually a family thing."

Brooke laughed and Jason smiled.

"Alright I guess I could do Sunday."

"Sounds good. Meet me at the river court at 10 am." Jason told her, "Oh, and bring your swimsuit." Jason hung up. "A swimsuit?" Brooke said out loud.

Nathan had lost Rachel in the crowd. He spotted her on the ground with another drink in her hand. He walked over to her and grabbed her drink out of her hands.

"Haven't you had enough?"

Rachel didn't answer him and looked down. Nathan gave her another glass of water.

"How do I know you didn't spike my drink" Rachel joked.

"Because I would never do something so cruel."

"Yeah, I know." Rachel told him, "You know, you're not like most guys."

"So I've been told."

"I mean, you would never cheat on a girl." Rachel said and looked down, "I'm such an idiot, why did I put myself in a situation which I knew was going to end badly. I knew he was a bad guy."

"Hey," Nathan said picking up her head and wiped away her tears, "You're not an idiot."

Her eyes filled with tears, "Can I tell you a secret?" she asked.

"Sure."

"I want a guy that can stay faithful to me. A guy that is honest, trustworthy, caring, sexy." Rachel said with a smile.

"You deserve a guy like that Rachel." Nathan told her.

"I want a guy that won't be scared to tell me if he has a problem. And he'll call me in the middle of the night to hear my voice." Rachel told him, "That's the kind of guy I want."

Nathan nodded. He hated guys who took advantage of girls like Rachel, girls that had done nothing wrong and just wanted to be wanted or loved. Rachel looked over at Nathan and realized that Nathan could be that guy for her. But did he see her in that way?

"He probably sees me as an insecure little girl" Rachel told herself.

She put her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lucas brought Peyton home safely. They parked the car in the driveway, and just sat there and listened to music. Peyton turned to Lucas and asked him if he wanted to come in.

"Sure," Lucas replied taking off his seatbelt.

Peyton smiled and took off her seatbelt as well. As she went to open the car door, Lucas stopped her. He told her not to move. Lucas got out of the car, ran in front of it to the passenger's side door and opened it as he stuck his hand out. She giggled and played along. She took his hand and got out of the car. Lucas placed her arm around his and they walked towards her house. Lucas took the remote to lock the car out of his pocket and pressed the button over his shoulder like a real pro. The car locked and the head light flashed. Peyton took out her keys and opened the door. They both walked in and shut the door behind them.

Haley received a text message once she had got into her silver silky pyjamas. She opened her phone and saw that the text message was from Dean. She smiled and read the text message. It said; "I had a really great time tonight. Don't worry about Brooke. She's just looking out for me. She'll get used to it."

Haley questioned if she should respond to his text message. Because what if Brooke would see it, she might even get madder. Haley really liked Dean, and figured that he may think she's avoiding him if she didn't respond. So she clicked the "Reply" button on her phone and wrote; "Had an awesome time too. You're right, she will come around, it was just a shock to her that's all. Well I'm off to bed, night."

Dean received the text message and responded "Alright. Goodnight. Sweet Dreams."

He closed his phone just as Brooke walked passed his room. She looked at Dean and rolled her eyes. She walked off to her room; Dean jumped off his bed and caught up to her. "Brooke wait." He said.

Brooke stopped walking and faced her brother. Dean knew Brooke was upset, and he knew about what. It looked like Brooke wasn't ready to talk about him and Haley yet, so he brought up the first thing that came to his mind, "You're home late." He told her.

"Yeah, well I wasn't in that great of a mood so Chase and I went for ice cream."

"Oh, that's cool" Dean said.

Brooke turned her back and headed to her room.

"Brooke, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Fine…" she said as she opened her bedroom door and invited her brother in.

They both walked into Brooke's bedroom and sat on her bed. Dean looked at Brooke straight in the eyes and said, "I really like Haley, Brooke."

"Really?" Brooke said after a long pause, "You said the same thing about Trisha, Dean, and look what happened to her."

"Hey." Dean said hesitantly, "she decided to leave."

"You should have followed her."

"She didn't want me to."

"Well you should be responsible enough to go." Brooke yelled at him, "Especially with these circumstances Dean!"

Dean looked down; Brooke was right, for once. He had been a jerk to Trisha, his ex-girlfriend.

"Have you talked to her at all?" Brooke asked him.

"No. I haven't talked to her in about 8 and half months."

"You know it's due anytime now."

"Yes, I'm aware Brooke."

"Well, I still think you and Haley is a horrible idea," Brooke told him, "But if you really like her you have to tell her."

Nathan and Rachel walked outside to the parking lot. There were only 3 cars left, they were one of the lasts ones to leave. Nathan walked to where they had parked the car, but the car wasn't there. Nathan turned to Rachel with a dumb look on his face. Rachel understood what happened and started laughing. Lucas and Nathan came together and Nathan came together and Lucas drove Peyton home so that would leave Nathan without a car.

"We'll walk." Nathan told her.

"Huh?" Rachel asked.

"Come on, it's not that far."

Rachel pouted and Nathan smiled. Rachel might be a lot of things and being funny was definitely one of them. She had a way of making people laugh when they were in bad situations.

"Nathan, it's far." Rachel said.

"You can come over if you want…" Nathan said

Rachel raised her eyebrows, "You're parents are okay with that?"

"Well…yeah. I guess. They're on a cruise."

Rachel smiled. She agreed to camp out at Nathan's house. They started walking, but Rachel stopped after a couple of steps.

"What's wrong now?" Nathan asked.

"These are new boots, and it's all muddy over there."

Nathan laughed, and Rachel was frowning. He told her to hop on his back. Rachel had a confused look on her face.

"I'll carry you to my house." Nathan said and he leaned down for Rachel to hop on.

Rachel giggled and got on his back.

Lucas and Peyton were making out on the couch. He ran his hand up her thigh, she let him. This felt really good. Peyton pulled away from the kiss. She lay down on the couch and watched Lucas on the other side of the couch.

"Do you want to stay the night?" she asked him.

"I can't." Lucas said as Peyton put her head down, "Listen Peyton, I don't want to rush things. I mean, I don't even know you that well. But I know if we stay together long enough, well, when we do…that… it will be amazing."

"That was really sweet." Peyton said, "But…we don't have to do anything like that. We could stay up all night and talk and learn more things about each other."

"I'd like that." Lucas told her.

Peyton smiled and reached over and gave a kiss to Lucas on the cheek. She headed to the kitchen and put popcorn in the microwave and let it pop. She came back to the living room and sat next to Lucas. He sat on the edge of the couch, and Peyton snuggled between his arms and lay down on the couch. They held hands together; Lucas used his other hand to control the remote. He flipped threw the channels and found Scary Movie 4. He asked Peyton if she wanted to see that movie. She said she loved it. The microwave beeped and Peyton got up to get the popcorn.

Brooke got on the computer and logged onto MSN. She had a couple of un-read emails but decided to check them later. Chase was online, so she sent him an IM.

BDavis123 says: Hey Buddy

SurferDude says: Brooke, did you talk to your brother?

BDavis123 says: Yeah, I talked to him. He really likes her Chase, but I still think it's wrong.

SurferDude says: Of course you do.

SurferDude says: Brooke you got to let him handle the situation the way he wants to, you're not his mom

BDavis123 says: Yeah I know. But I still think he should be there for Trisha, especially now.

SurferDude says: I agree 100

BDavis123 says: Anyways…

BDavis123 says: I'm going out with Jason on Sunday

SurferDude says: I know! How cool is that!

BDavis123 says: I'm so excited Chase.

SurferDude says: Hold that thought. Mom wants to talk to me.

BDavis123 says: Alright

Brooke closed the conversation and went to go look on the internet at her favourite chatting thread. No one was on. She turned on her iTunes. She played her favourite song, "the way I r." She got an IM invitation. She opened it but didn't recognise the user name.

FootBallCapt11 says: Hey Gorgeous

BDavis123 says: who is this?

FootBallCapt11 says: It's Jay

BDavis123 says: Jay? I don't know a Jay

FootBallCapt11 says: Well you're going out with me on Sunday.

BDavis123 says: Oh!

BDavis123 says: What's up.

FootBallCapt11 says: Nothing really. Can't wait for Sunday

BDavis123 says: I can't wait either; I'm not going to be disappointed am I? lol

FootBallCapt11 says: Hell no lol.

FootBallCapt11 says: It'll be the best date you'll ever have

BDavis123 says: That's got to be one great date, because you know, I've been on a date with Brad Pitt and well nothing can beat that.

FootBallCapt11 says: haha. Well, I'll do my best.

Chase contacted her back. Brooke opened her conversation with him.

SurferDude says: I'm back

BDavis123 says: Guess what.

SurferDude says: what?

BDavis123 says: Jason added me on MSN and we're talking

SurferDude says: That's awesome.

BDavis123 says: Yeah, what did your mom say.

SurferDude says: Oh…nothing.

SurferDude says: Well I'm going to let you flirt with Jason. I'm heading off. Bye babe. I love you.

BDavis123 says: No, you don't have to do that.

SurferDude says: It's alright; I have to decide if I want to do what my mom wants me to do anyways.

BDavis123 says: Alright. Bye love. I love you.

SurferDude has logged off.

Brooke opened her conversation with Jason, she hadn't replied in a couple minutes.

FootBallCapt11 says: Do you like Chinese or Japanese more?

FootBallCapt11 says: Personally, I love sushi.

FootBallCapt11 says: Brooke? You there?

Brooke hesitated to answer. Why was Chase being so vague with her, he was never vague with her. He was always open, he always told her everything. She didn't this, she didn't like this one bit.

BDavis123 says: Sushi is the best!!!

FootBallCapt11 says: then sushi it is.

FootBallCapt11 says: Crap, I've got to go. Talk to you tomorrow?

BDavis123 says: For sure.

FootBallCapt11 says: 

FoorBallCapt11 has logged off

Brooke closed her computer and went to sit on her bed. She opened her phone and sent a text message to Chase. She was worried about him. She didn't answer him. She was really angry, but decided to call him when she got up in the morning. She got into bed and closed her light.

Nathan opened the front door. The lights were off, no one was home. Nathan turned on the lights and showed Rachel the house. They went to go sit in the living room, Rachel sat on the couch. Nathan asked her if she wanted anything to drink.

"A coke would be nice." Rachel said.

"One coke coming up." Nathan said and headed for the kitchen.

Rachel looked at the pictures on the wall; she smiled at the pictures of Lucas and Nathan fighting. There were pictures of Haley and Nathan. Rachel noticed that a lot of pictures had Haley in them, but not exactly. She was in the background in a lot of the pictures, and in all of those pictures, she was looking at Nathan, looking like she was wishing to be part of the main part of the picture standing next to Nathan. Maybe it was just her imagination, but from the looks of things, it looked like Haley had a crush on Nathan.

"There you are." Nathan said putting a can of coke underneath her nose. It broke off her concentration from the pictures and she took the coke and turned around to sit on the couch and talk with Nathan. She asked Nathan who the girl in the picture was, the one by the TV. Nathan walked over to it and said that it was Haley, when they were about 5. Nathan had her arm around her, and they were smiling.

"And that one?" Rachel asked pointing to one where Nathan was dressed up in a suit with a pretty brunette next to him in a blue dress.

"That's Kayla, my first girlfriend…" Nathan said, "The only girlfriend I've ever had actually."

"She's gorgeous." Rachel said.

"Yeah, she umm moved away last year." Nathan said clearing his throat, "Her dad got a job offer."

"I'm sorry."

"No, no. It's fine." Nathan said.

Rachel looked down at her coke and took a sip of her coke. Rachel liked Nathan. How could she show him? She rushed beside him and curled her body next to his. She lay her head on his shoulder. Nathan got up and walked away. Rachel sat on the couch with a confused look on her face. That was odd. That never happened to her before, it always worked. Why didn't it work with Nathan? Nathan came back with a blanket, and told Rachel to lie down on the couch. She did as instructed and lay on the bed. Nathan put the blanket on top of her and told her goodnight. He closed the lights and headed upstairs. Nathan got settled in his bed when about 5 minutes later he heard a knock on his door. He looked over to the door and saw Rachel's head pop in threw the doorway.

"Nathan, I heard something outside your house and I'm scared."

Nathan got out of bed, and walked with her down the stairs. He opened the front door and walked around. There was nothing in sight.

"There's nothing outside Rachel."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

Rachel got back into her couch bed and put the cover over her head. Nathan headed upstairs but was cut off by Rachel

"Where are you going?"

"To my bed…"

"No…stay with me. I'm scared."

Nathan exhaled, and walked back down the stairs. Rachel opened the blanket so Nathan could cuddle next to her. Most guys would love this, but not Nathan.

"What are you doing?" he asked

"Making room for you" she replied.

"Why don't we just open the couch so we each got enough room."

Another rejection for Rachel, this must be a record or something. Rachel got up from the couch and let Nathan take out the fold-out bed. He brought another blanket downstairs and covered Rachel again. He lay down and didn't turn towards Rachel. He exhaled, that was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. He really liked Rachel, but he felt it was way too soon to sugguest ever going out sometime together since her last break up and Nathan was willing to wait. Rachel fell asleep a couple minutes later. Nathan turned over and faced her and whispered, "Sweet dreams gorgeous." He fell asleep next to her. The thing we didn't know about Nathan though, was that he was a very cuddly sleep, he always needed something to cuddle. Tonight's cuddling item was Rachel.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

All night, Lucas and Peyton talked about their common interests, what they loved doing in their spare time. Turns out that they did indeed have a lot of common interests. Peyton had fallen asleep on Lucas's lap and Lucas was snoring with his head back.

Brooke had woken up a little later then usual that day, her mom had to come wake her up. Brooke refused to get up, she was really tired. She remembered that she had to call Chase so she got up and ran downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and saw her dad at the table, reading the newspaper. She walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning daddy." Brooke said and headed to the fridge

Her dad put the newspaper down and said with a smile; "Morning darling."

Brooke took out some strawberries from the fridge and went to wash them. Her dad asked her how she slept, and Brooke replied that she slept well, but was still tired. Her dad smiled and took a bite of his toast. She brought the strawberries to the table and took a bite of one.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Amazingly well." Her dad said, "Don't tell your mother, but I just woke up."

"How doesn't she know?"

"Your brothers and sisters were covering for me." he laughed.

Brooke laughed along with him. Her dad and herself had a pretty great relationship. She got along better with him then her mom when usually it's the opposite. Her dad folded the newspaper and placed it next to him.

"What's going on with you Brooke?"

"Nothing really? Why."

"Because I heard you and your brother shouting at each other last night and I want to know why."

"Because Dean is being completely immature and dating a junior!"

"He's dating someone already?"

"Yeah!" she shouted.

"Isn't it too soon?" her dad asked.

"Not according to him." Brooke said.

Brooke's mom walked in the kitchen and kissed her husband on the cheek. She was meeting Chase's mom. They were going out for the day, like every Saturday.

"Okay, well, I'm going to be home late tonight, so Jack, I don't want them going to any parties, no drinks, no drugs, and no boys or girls over." She told him.

Brooke's dad replied, "Don't worry. Brooke and Kevin know better to do any of that. Dean, Mack and Bridge, can't guarantee anything."

Brooke and Jack started laughing, but her mom wasn't laughing. Brooke stopped laughing and looked down.

"Lizzie, don't worry about it. Everyone will be staying home tonight." Jack said kissing his wife again.

"Alright." She said, and then walked out of the kitchen.

Brooke checked that her mom was out of sight, and said, "Aren't Bee and Mack going to Frankie's beer bash tonight?"

"Don't tell your mother."

Brooke laughed and told her dad she had to call Chase. She got up and walked over to the phone. She dialled Chase's number, and the phone started ringing.

Lucas rolled over and woke up to see Peyton in his arms, he smiled. He took a look at his watch, it was really late, but he didn't want to wake up Peyton. He slid out off the couch and placed a pillow where Peyton had put her head on him. He walked to the kitchen and wrote her a note. The put the pen back and left Peyton's house.

Rachel opened her eyes, she had Nathan's arm around her. She smiled; he had stayed with her all night. She felt safe in his arms; she felt his muscles surround her. Nathan opened his eyes, and realized what happened, and quickly took his arm away from Rachel and looked over her to see if she was awaked. Rachel turned around to face Nathan and smiled. Someone had cleared their throat in the front of the living room, it wasn't Nathan and it wasn't Rachel. They both looked up to see Karen, Keith and Deb watching them. Nathan and Rachel both jumped out of bed. This must have not looked good to the parents. Nathan raised his eyebrows.

"What are you guys doing home?" Nathan said finally.

"We came home early because we missed you son." Deb said.

"Seems like you didn't miss us." Karen said with a smile looking at Rachel

Rachel looked down, and felt like she should say something. "Hi, I'm Rachel…" Rachel said.

"Nice to meet you Rachel."

"I'm going to go Nate, thanks for last night. I'll call you or something." Rachel said, and got her shall, and walked out the door.

The parents all looked at Nathan, who had a stunned look on his face.

"Breakfast anyone?"

Brooke didn't get a hold of Chase; she decided if he wasn't on MSN she would go over to his house to see what was going on. She logged on and she got 2 IMS. One was from Peyton and one was from Jason. Chase was on, but wasn't talking to her. She answered Peyton and Jason first and then she would talk to Chase.

PunkGoddess555 says: Brooke!! I have something to tell you!

BDavis123 says: what is it?

FootBallCapt11 says: hey beautiful

BDavis123 says: how are you?

She opened a conversation with Chase

BDavis123 says: why aren't you picking up your phone?

FootBallCapt11 says: I'm pretty good, how are you?

BDavis123 says: I'm good. Tired though.

PunkGoddess555 says: Lucas and I are officially a couple!!!

BDavis123 says: OMG! Really! Wow. I'm so happy for you.

PunkGoddess555 says: thanks!!

PunkGoddess555 says: gotta go call Lucas. Bye babe. 3

PunkGoddess555 has logged off.

Chase still hadn't answered her. She opened her conversation with Jason, but he had logged off.

BDavis123 says: Chase, why aren't you answering me?

SurferDude says: cause I was in the bathroom.

BDavis123 says: Oh…

SurferDude says: sorry about that. I've been a little stressed lately.

BDavis123 says: I've noticed, what's going on?

SurferDude says: My dad wants to see me.

BDavis123 says: WHAT!!!

SurferDude says: I don't want to see him. He's a jerk and I hate him.

BDavis123 says: I know! You don't have to see him.

SurferDude says: I know. But he's my dad Brooke.

BDavis123 says: but what he did to you was horrible. If you did have to see him, when would it be?

SurferDude says: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

BDavis123 says: You're missing school?

SurferDude says: yeah. A day, remember we have Monday and Tuesday off.

BDavis123 says: Right… forgot about that.

BDavis123 says: I'm coming with you.

SurferDude says: what?

BDavis123 says: you heard me.

SurferDude says: no. you're not coming. It's going to be way too hard for me, and then I don't want you there to see me like that.

BDavis123 says: you need me there Chase, you're going to be all sad, and you need your best friend there for you. And there I will be.

SurferDude has logged off.

Karen, Keith and Deb were in the kitchen making supper. Karen was peeling the potatoes, Keith was watching the chicken cook, and Deb was cooking the rice.

"Keith, I need to ask you something." Deb said.

"Sure what is it?"

"Can you ummm. Talk to Nathan?" Deb asked, "About you know….sex."

Nathan and Lucas walked into the kitchen and asked when supper was going to be ready. Karen answered in about 5-10 minutes. The boys left and went to go play playstation.

"Sex?" Keith asked once the boys were out of the room

"Yeah… you know. Nathan won't listen to me because I'm his mother" Deb told him.

"I'll see what I can do."

Karen put the potatoes in a plate and brought them into the dining room. She called for the boys to get washed up and to come sit at the table. The boys did what they were told and sat down with Karen. Keith and Deb soon joined them. Keith said grace before they ate, when he was done, they digged in.

Nathan took a bite of chicken, "Yum, this chicken is amazing Uncle Keith."

"It's a new recipe" Keith said.

Nathan twirled his rice around the chicken, the parents hadn't said anything about what they had witnessed in the morning, and it was really bugging him. Maybe it was okay with them if he had sex. Who was he kidding? Every parent has a problem with their kid having sex.

"I can't take it anymore!" Nathan blurted out, "Why are you guys so cool with what you saw today?"

The parents looked with dumb-founded looks on their faces. Lucas had no idea what Nathan was talking about it.

"I mean, I wake up with a really hot girl next to me, you guys were right there, and you didn't say ANYTHING!" Nathan said.

Keith cleared his throat, "Nathan, me and you will have this talk later." He said, and continued eating his chicken.

"Wait a second." Lucas said, "What girl?"

"Rachel…" Nathan mumbled.

"Dude…they caught you! You and Rachel … did it?"

"No!" Nathan yelled, "We're not even dating. Rachel needed a place to crash, and I offered the house, she was scared to sleep by herself, so I offered to stay with her."

"Nathan, we haven't said anything…" Deb told him

"I know and that's what is getting me so mad!" Nathan replied, "I feel like you should be punishing me or something."

"Did you do anything for us to punish you for?" Karen asked him

"No!" Nathan said, "Excuse me" Nathan got up and left the table.

Keith ran after him, Karen and Deb went to the kitchen. Lucas sat at the table by himself, "Someone's got to tell me what's going on!" he said to himself and ran upstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Brooke woke up with a smile on her face; it was the day she had been waiting for this whole year, her date with Jason Vartan. She stretched out of bed, looked out her window to see birds chirping on treetops, the flowers were blooming beautifully in their garden. Something about that morning seemed so perfect so she was a little less nervous for her date with Jason? But Brooke couldn't help but wonder, was it going to be a date out of a fairytale or one huge disaster?

Peyton waited until 9 to call Lucas. She was so into their relationship. She had never felt this way about anyone before. She went to go take a shower, and then she decided she would call Lucas. But Lucas beat her to it, when Peyton got out of the shower there was voicemail on her phone. She listened to Lucas's message.

"Hey Peyt, I missed you last night. I'm sorry I didn't call you back; it's just that we had a family movie night and we do it all the time so I couldn't just leave to talk to my girlfriend. Anyways, I want to see you today, I miss your beautiful smile and your vanilla scent. Call me."

Peyton closed her phone. It was the sweetest message she had ever gotten. She was falling for Lucas really badly. She missed seeing his smile and his snarky comments. She called Lucas's Cell.

"Hey!" Lucas said.

"Hi!"

"Did you get my message?"

"You bet I did."

"Well?" Lucas asked, "Do you want to do something tonight?"

"Well, of course."

Taylor was meeting Bridget and Melanie at the shopping plaza. She asked Haley if she wanted to tag along. Haley figured if Nathan wanted to go for a walk at the park which was about a 5 minute walk from the plaza that she would go. Haley called Nathan and invited him to the park to talk just the two of them. He accepted and agreed to meet her in about 10 minutes.

Rachel was tossing and turning on her bed, she didn't know what to do. Nathan hadn't really called her since the whole parents' incident.

"Maybe they think I'm a hussy?" Rachel asked herself.

Brooke saw Jason waiting on the bleachers for her. She walked over to him and gave him a hug. "Morning."

"How are you?"

"Excited you?"

"Oh yeah."

Jason brought Brooke to a sushi bar; Brooke was a little confused, lunch wasn't for a couple of hours.

"Brunch" Jason said, "Best time to eat sushi."

They sat down at the table and ordered lots and lots of sushi.

"So you and Chase seem be to really close."

"Yeah. We're best friends; we know everything about each other."

"I don't know" Jason said, "I don't know if I could handle having such a hot best friend and not have feelings for them."

Brooke blushed, "That's sweet. But Chase and I are just friends…promise."

Haley and Nathan were talking about their wild nights with Dean and Rachel.

"You really like him don't you?" Nathan asked

"Yeah, I really do." Haley said with a smile, "And you…really like Rachel?"

"Yeah…"

Nathan and Haley smiled. They hadn't really hung out just the two of them since the beginning of the year and it felt good; it felt really good. Haley was his best friend after Lucas of course, and he loved her like a sister.

Rachel was jogging in the park to clear her head about Nathan, when who does she see talking to Haley on the other side of the park, the one person she didn't want to see that day. "Maybe Nathan likes Haley?"

She ran over to them but pretended like she hadn't seen them. As she ran by Nathan screamed her name out. She turned around with a shock look on her face, pretending not to know that Nathan was there. Nathan was smiling; Rachel took off her headphones and smiled back.

After they had finished eating sushi, Brooke and Jason left for the dock. He put his hands over her eyes and opened them to see two water jets. They got on and left the harbour. They raced around the town. When they were done, Jason drove her home and brought her to her doorstep. He grabbed the sides of her flushed cheeks and pressed his lips gently on hers, then stopped and pulled away. He kissed her hand and headed for his car. Brooke walked into the house, put her fingers against her lips and closed the door. That was one hot kiss but she didn't feel the normal tingly inside feeling after your first kiss. She was thinking about Chase, why was she thinking about him?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lucas drove to Peyton's house. He was wearing his Abercrombie and Fitch jeans with a blue Hollister dress shirt with a white wife-beater underneath, (a style tip from his new friend Chase). He parked in her driveway, and picked up the rose that was in the passengers' seat. He opened the door and got out of the car and walked up to Peyton's front door. He rang the doorbell and knocked on the door. Peyton was in the vestibule looking the mirror, fixing her hair. She heard the doorbell and applied lip gloss and then pressed her lips together and opened the door. Lucas looked up, and smiled, "Wow, you look amazing." Peyton was wearing a jean skirt with a black halter top. He kissed her gently and then raised his hand to her cheek, and pulled her in for a deeper kiss. He swept her off her feet and carried her to the car.

"What are you doing?" Peyton asked.

"Romancing you." Lucas laughed.

* * *

Brooke called Chase on his cell, but there was no answer. His voicemail popped up after about seven rings. "Hey, this is Chase, leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Chase!!! Pick up the dam phone. I know you're there. I really have to talk to you. This is your best friend talking So pick up" Brooke was interrupted by Chase opening the phone.

"Hey Brooke…"

"What is going on with you?"

"Nothing!"

"Why have you been so distant?"

"I'm sorry." Chase said, "How was your date with Jason?"

"Well… he was really sweet, brought me to my doorstep and well, we kissed."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It was pretty awesome."

"So you guys a couple now?"

"Don't know..."

"Brooke I got to go. My mom wants me to umm... pack for tomorrow."

"I'm coming with you. I don't care what you say."

"Nope you're not." Chase said, and hung up his phone.

* * *

Haley felt a little weird hanging out with both Nathan and Rachel. Nathan liked Rachel. Haley used to like Nathan. Haley had given up the dream of her and Nathan ever getting together. Whenever Nathan looked at her, it wasn't like he looked at Rachel. He was so into what she was talking about and who she wanted to be, and whenever he talked to Haley, he knew everything, it was like she was predictable or something. Rachel and Nathan were sharing an ice cream together, and Haley was sitting on the side eating hers. She watched them, and smiled. She was happy for them, she was, maybe a little jealous though, that it wasn't her in Rachel's position.

* * *

Lucas and Peyton were waiting in line for the movie; they were going to go see the Notebook. Lucas put his arm around her and squeezed her against his body. She could feel like strong muscles rub against her body. They arrived at the ticket booth and ordered their tickets.

"I got it" Lucas said taking out his wallet out of his pocket.

"Thanks" Peyton said with a smile

They received their tickets and walked into the theatre together holding hands.

* * *

Rachel received a text message from Brooke. She opened up her phone and took a look at the text message. It said, "Rach, I really need to talk to you. It's important. It's about Chase." Rachel closed her phone and looked over at Nathan who had been watching her read her text message.

"Well," Nathan said, "Aren't you going to reply?"

Rachel laughed, and opened her phone and called Brooke. Brooke picked up the phone.

"Rach!"

"What's going on?"

"I like Chase"

"WHAT!!!" Rachel screamed into the phone. Nathan jerked beside her by her excitement, he had gotten a little scared. She got up and walked over by a tree so that Nathan and Haley couldn't hear what they were saying.

"YOU LIKE CHASE!!!" Rachel starting spazzing on the phone.

"Keep your voice down, and yeah. I think so."

"I knew it!! From the second I met the two of you. I just knew it!"

"Shush." Brooke said into the phone, "I really want to tell him."

"So tell him!"

"How!"

"Do something crazy, and adventurous!"

"Huh?"

"Trust me!"

"Something adventurous?

Then it came to Brooke, she had the perfect idea.

* * *

Lucas and Peyton were so into the movie. Now came the date awkwardness. Was Lucas supposed to hold her tight? Was he supposed to keep his distance?

"Popcorn?" he said to Peyton offering the popcorn that was on his lap.

"Thanks" Peyton said taking a handful and smiled.

The movie went on, and Peyton looked like she was going to cry. It was the part in the movie where Ally chose Noah. It was a really sad scene. Lucas wiped her tears and then kissed her. They starting making out in the movie theatre.

* * *

Nathan, Rachel and Haley walked to the mall, and decided to go shopping. "A guy that goes shopping?" Rachel said, "I never thought I would see the day, except maybe Chase."

The three of them laughed, and walked to Rachel's favourite store. Haley's stomach growled pretty loudly, so loud that some people actually started looking at Haley.

"I think I'm hungry."

They laughed and headed to the food court where they saw Brooke eating some sushi. Rachel ran over to her and gave her a hug.

They sat down with Brooke. Haley and Brooke were still a little awkward from the whole Brooke finding her making out with her brother. Rachel saw Chase come into the food court with his ex girlfriend Tina. Rachel gasped and tired to distract Brooke. Brooke looked over and saw Chase with Tina. "What is he doing with her?"

Brooke walked over to Tina and Chase. Brooke had never liked Tina; she was selfish, rude and only cared about herself. She was the one that dumped Chase last April because she thought they should see other people. Tina raised her eyebrows when she saw Brooke, "Brooke! Oh my God."

"Oh my God back at cha." Brooke said, "Chase, can I talk to you for a second?"

Brooke didn't give him time to answer and pulled him aside.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Having lunch with Tina…" Chase replied.

"Why!" Brooke said, "You hate her."

"I hated her…" Chase replied, "She broke up with me, I hated her. I took her back, I don't hate her."

"Unbelievable" Brooke said rolling her eyes, "I'm your best friend, and you completely ignore me! And that whore that broke up with you and made you cry for a week, you talk to and even go out for lunch with!"

"Wow. What did we say about bringing up that week? NEVER MENTION THAT AGAIN!" Chase screamed. "And you were busy with Jason…how is he by the way?"

"You are unbelievable you know that." Brooke said, and walked away.

Brooke was really hurt and went to Rachel. Brooke asked her if she could leave with her. Rachel looked at Nathan and Haley and told her to go. Rachel nodded and left with Brooke. Brooke was feeling so hurt, but did she have good reason? It wasn't like Chase was her boyfriend. Why was she so attached to him? What was it about him that made her all tingly inside? Maybe it was the fact that this huge thing just happened with Chase's dad, and Brooke felt sorry for him. She was so confused; she never had felt like this before about anyone. Tears filled her eyes and she gave Rachel a hug.

"I love him Rach." Brooke told her

"What!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I think I've always known it" Brooke told Rachel.

"What triggered it?" Rachel asked

"The date with Jason," Brooke replied, "I mean, he did everything right you know? He took me to my favourite restaurant, ordered my favourite sushi, took me to the water, my favourite place for a date, we went on water jets and raced around Tree Hill. Then he was a romantic and brought me to my doorstep and kissed me gently and finished off my night with a kiss on the hand like those hot French guys."

"Sounds like some date."

"It was…"Brooke said, "But I wasn't into it."

"Because you like Chase?"

"I guess…"

"Wow, you need therapy."

"Thanks."

"Okay, if you really like Chase, you need to tell him you love him"

"I can't. He's with Tina now."

"When has that ever stopped you?"

"HEY!"

"Sorry…" Rachel said, "Do you want Chase?"

"Yes"

"Then I know how you can get him."

"How?" Brooke asked.

Rachel pulled Brooke close and whispered something in her ear.

"WHAT!" Brooke screamed as she pulled away from Rachel.

* * *

The next morning, Brooke got up really early, got dressed and looked in the mirror, she couldn't believe she was going to do what she was about to do. She ran to Chase's house, and hoped into his backseat. The plan was for him to leave and once they were on the road, Brooke would pop up and surprise Chase. This way, Brooke had to tag along, and he couldn't kick her out in the middle of nowhere and she would have to go to New York with him and she would be there for him. It was the perfect plan. She called Rachel, she picked up. "Rachel!" she squealed.

"Brooke! What's going on?"

"I'm in the back of his car, going to pop up when we're at the state line, and then we're going to whatever he wants to do with his dad. I'll be there to comfort him, and then I'm going to plan him a night that will cheer him up, and tell him I love him."

Rachel was jumping up and down, "I'm so excited for you!"

Brooke heard footsteps, put a tarp on top of her, and she told Rachel she had to go. Rachel wished her luck and hung up. Chase opened the door, and got into the car. The passenger door opened as well, Brooke was really confused now.

"Last night was amazing Chase" someone said; someone that sounded a lot like Tina. Brooke dropped her jaw in shock.

"Yeah, it was?" Chase said as he started the engine.

Tina faced him, and started playing with his hair, and he exhaled, "It's going to be a long drive to New York."

Chase had picked Tina. That's who he wanted... what was Brooke doing? Embarrassing herself, that was what she was doing. She had to get out of there. The stereo started playing. Brooke raised her eyebrows as the car started rolling down the driveway.

To Be Continued...

* * *

Note from the Author : hey guys. i'm glad a lot of you are enjoying this fanfiction :D it means a lot to me. Probably a lot of you are asking why Brooke changed from liking Jason to Chase so quickly. I didn't intend it to be so quick, i swear. but i wanted to have the storyline of Chase having a hard time with his dad and Brooke being there for him. and Chase was leaving so soon, that i had no choice but to rush it. and i'm sorry for those who liked the jason/Brooke relationship. we'll be seeing a little bit more of him, but not too much.

**Spoilers **: (PLease don't look if you don't want to know)

The Big secret of Dean's in coming up in the next chapter. so hold tight.

Many of you are thinking is this going to be a Nachel or Naley fanfic. to tell you the truth i'm thinking of doing both. but not 100 sure yet.

Lucas and Peyton are just a couple in almost love. the big i love you exchangement is coming up in the next couple of chapters.

Someone's life will be in Danger, and may not make it.

What will happen when Brooke is caught in New York by Chase and Tina.

3


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Haley woke up the next morning, looked outside to the pouring rain and sighed. It was a crappy day. Rain always put Haley in a bad mood. She hadn't talked to Dean the night before and decided to call him. She picked up the home phone and dialled his home number, she figured he was still at home and hadn't gone to work yet. The phone was ringing, and no one picked up for a couple of rings. Finally a women's voice said, "Hello?"

"Hi!" Haley exclaimed, "Is Dean there?"

"He's still sleeping, he got in late last night." She said, "May I take a message?"

"Yes," Haley said, "Can you tell him Haley called?"

"No problem."

"Thank you."

She closed the phone and put it to her heart. She really liked Dean. The kiss they shared was amazing; his hands were in the right position. She couldn't complain about her first kiss then again she had nothing to compare it to. She tried to re feel the feeling of his lips pressing on her, feeling his muscles rub against body.

* * *

Lucas sneaked into the house very quietly. He had slept over at Peyton's that night and it got really late, so they fell asleep. Nothing happened. But his parents didn't know, so he had to make his entrance as discrete as possible. He snuck into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get some breakfast. Nathan walked into the kitchen, saw Lucas bending over for the carton of milk and laughed. Lucas turned around really quickly; he thought it was one of the parents. "Man, you scared me." 

"Where were you last night?" Nathan asked walking towards him

"I was at Peyton's."

"You two are really hitting it off eh?"

"Yeah, our relationship is really amazing, and the chemistry is undeniable."

"That's good."

"Yeah"

"What about you and Rachel?"

"We're just friends…"

"You want to be more though?"

"Yeah" Nathan said, "But she just broke up with her boyfriend, she doesn't want a boyfriend now, especially me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. I mean, you saw her college boyfriend."

"Whatever Nate." Lucas said, "Oh, where are the parents?"

"Work" Nathan told him, "I covered for you don't worry. But your mom will be home any second to pick up some documents, so I'd change the shirt if I were you."

"Right!" Lucas said heading for the steps, but turned to his brother, "Hey Nate."

"Yeah?"

"Rachel doesn't know what she's missing."

Nathan smiled, and nodded. Lucas went to go change.

* * *

Melanie walked in on Rachel changing in her bedroom. "You could knock you know?" 

"It's so much more fun this way." Melanie joked. "Hey! Is that my black bra?"

"No, it's ummmm, mine" Rachel said, and put a shirt over her bra.

Melanie sat on her bed, "What's going on with you Rach?"

"Nothing" she said, joining her sister on the bed.

"I heard about the cheating bastard."

"Don't worry about it," Rachel said with a tear in her eye. Even though Rachel had been expecting the scum to cheat on her, she was still hurting pretty badly. Melanie leaned over and gave her sister a hug.

"I'm sorry babe." Melanie replied.

"It's okay."

"I heard you had the hots for this new guy though."

Rachel looked at her with a confused look on her face, how did she know about Nate?

"Bridge told me." Melanie informed her.

"Yeah, but he's not into me." Rachel said.

"What kind of idiot wouldn't be into you?"

"The smart kind." Rachel said, "Nathan's super smart, and looks for the smart girls."

"You're smart Rachel," Melanie said as Rachel glared at her, "You just care about your looks more"

Rachel put her head down; she didn't want to be that kind of person anymore. She wanted to be smart and hot. She would have to pay attention to both. But you shouldn't have to change who you are to impress someone right? Rachel called Nathan's cell to ask him to help her with English.

* * *

Brooke was getting really nauseous in the back of Chase's convertible seat. She fell asleep for a couple hours and when she woke up she lifted the tarp to get some air. She looked up at Chase who was focused on the road and Tina who was starring at him with her sparkling eyes. She leaned into him and kissed him but didn't. Brooke was watching them like she was watching a movie. Tina turned his head and kissed him on the lips. Chase let go of the steering wheel for 2 seconds and almost lost control of the vehicle. He pulled her off, "Tina stop, before we both get killed." Chase screamed, "There will be plenty of that when we get to New York." Brooke opened her jaw, who was this person driving the convertible, it couldn't have been the Chase she grew up. The car stopped and Chase and Tina got out. Chase stretched his arms, and walked over to the passenger side of the car. He put his arm around Tina and kissed her. Brooke got sick when she saw this. She lost Chase. She had lost him forever.

* * *

Haley was listening to "Home" by Dauntry in her room; she was waiting by the phone for Dean's call. The phone rang and Haley ran to the phone cradle and picked up the phone. 

"Hello?" Haley asked

But someone had already picked it up, it was Taylor.

"Hey, is Haley there?" a man's voice said threw the phone

"Ah…" Taylor said but was cut off by Haley.

"Tay get off the phone, I'm already on." Haley yelled.

Taylor closed the phone and Haley starting talking to Dean.

"Hey Dean."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm pretty good, how are you?"

"Pretty crappy." He answered

"And why's that?"

"Because I haven't seen you in 2 days."

Haley smiled, and said, "I know, I've missed you."

"I miss you too." Dean replied, "Haley, I really need to tell you something."

"Alright, go ahead."

"Not on the phone, I need to tell you in person. Want to meet in 5 minutes at the harbour?"

"Ah, sure." Haley said

"Race you" he said, and hung up the phone.

Haley closed the phone, ran to get dressed, put on her shoes and ran out the door.

* * *

Rachel was waiting at the River Court for Nathan. He had agreed to help her with her English essay on famous quotes. He arrived a little late, but Rachel was okay with that. He brought coffee, so Rachel forgave him instantly. He sat down next to her and apologized for being late, he handed her a coffee. 

"Well let it never happen again." Rachel said with a smile and took a sip of coffee.

Nathan took out his books and placed them on the table next to Rachel's. He took out a couple of papers from his binder and placed them in front of Rachel. She picked them up and read them.

"What's this?"

"My paper." Nathan told her, "I thought it could give you an idea of what Mr. Williams wants."

Rachel nodded. She saw that Nathan had started off the essay with different definitions of a quote. She looked down and looked at all the quotes, she sighed at one of the quotes Nathan had on his paper, it said;

_"Time is too slow for those who wait,  
too swift for those who fear,  
too long for those who grieve,  
too short for those who rejoice,  
but for those who love, time is eternity."_

"Who said that?" she asked

"**Henry Van Dyke"** he replied

"That's beautiful"

She continued reading the paper; there was a biography on Henry Van Dyke. She continued reading the paper glancing at the different quotes, there were a lot of love quotes she realized. This was a side of Nathan she hadn't seen. There were also sections of Inspirational Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Movie Quotes and Sports Quotes. He had made all these different categories, and she couldn't even start the silly thing.

"_Love is so powerful because being loved causes one to love oneself. Nothing contributes to the self-image more than being loved by another. When the words, "I love you" are expressed to you for the first time, your world blossoms, your heart glows with inspiration, confidence and thoughts of the mountains you can move. It's more than an emotional kick; suddenly you like yourself more than you ever have before."_

Rachel looked over at Nathan who was looking at his paper while he was fiddling with his pen.

* * *

Haley and Dean met at the harbour around the same time. She jumped into his arms and he swung her around. He kissed her passionately and put her down. 

"I missed you." He said.

"Yeah…I can see." She replied, "So what did you have to tell me?"

"Let's take a walk." Dean said reaching for her hand. She gave him her hand and they walked around the harbour.

"This is really hard for me to say Haley, because I really like you." Dean said.

"It's okay, tell me."

"There was another reason why Brooke didn't want us to be together other then it would just be awkward because I'm her brother…" he said

"Go on…"

"The reason she didn't want me to get involved with not only you but anyone, is because… well… I've gotten a girl pregnant, my ex in fact."

Haley raised her eyebrows. Pregnant!! She thought to herself. She hadn't even had sex yet! And he had let alone had sex, but got a girl pregnant! Haley couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"She wants nothing to do with me, and I actually went to go visit her yesterday, that's why I didn't call you and I'm sorry."

Haley couldn't look at him; she couldn't believe she actually thought she could have fallen in love with this guy.

"Dean, you know, I really like you. But I can't forgive you."

"What?"

"You should have told me." Haley said. She couldn't believe she had given up her dream with Nathan for Brooke's horny older brother. Now, Haley was creating a scene she started to raise her voice and people started to look.

"You know, Dean. You told me that you and your ex broke up about 8 months ago. You should go to her and be there for her when she gives birth." Haley said and turned around and crossed her arms. Dean went in front of her, "Haley, I don't want to be with her, I want to be with you."

Haley slapped him and walked away. People gasped when they saw Haley slap Dean, Haley turned around and faced him once more, "You should have told me before we started anything with each other."

* * *

Rachel and Nathan had heard the commotion and turned to see what was going on. They saw Haley upset and she slapped Dean. Rachel and Nathan raised their eyebrows. Nathan got his books together; he could see Haley needed someone to talk to. Rachel saw that he was leaving in a rush. Of course, he was going to Haley. He loved Haley, and it was pretty obvious. 

"Nathan to the rescue" Rachel muttered under breath.

"What?" Nathan said, but he wasn't supposed to hear it.

"It's funny, every time I see you, you're with Haley." Rachel fake grinned, and got her books together.

"She's my friend Rachel." Nathan told her, "She has been since we were kids."

"It's just funny I guess how Lucas isn't running to her rescue as well." Rachel replied, "I understand…"

"You understand what exactly?"

"That you like Haley."

Nathan turned around really quickly. "I…I…I"

"It's okay. I just can't believe I thought you liked me…" Rachel said with a couple tears in her eyes and ran away from him.

Nathan raised his eyebrows. Had Rachel just said she liked him? She thought that he liked Haley when he actually liked Rachel. He couldn't let her think this and ran after her.

* * *

Chase and Tina had walked into a restaurant. Brooke saw this as an opportunity and got out of the car and stretched out her legs, they were really numb. She hadn't moved in so long, it felt good to move around. She was so hungry that she had to go into the restaurant, but told herself to do it really discreetly. Brooke couldn't afford for Chase or Tina to see her. She ran in the restaurant and headed straight for the vending machine. She bought a chocolate bar, and gobbled it down. She walked into the restaurant, sat down at a table and put the menu up to block her face. She saw Chase and Tina; they were sitting at a table and were holding hands. Brooke wanted to be in Tina's position, she wanted to be the one holding Chase's hands and kissing his lips. Chase looked over in Brooke's direction. Brooke raised her eyebrows, Chase couldn't see her, it was over if he had. He got up and walked over to her direction. Oh God, she was toast. "Please don't see me" she told herself. 

"Sorry miss, you look really familiar, do I know you?"

Brooke raised her menu a little higher, and said in a older women voice, "No sunny, I don't think so." She got up and walked for the exit.

"Brooke!" Chase yelled.

Brooke turned around and smiled innocently. "Chase!"

Chase walked over to her, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm ummm." Brooke said trying to look for an answer, "What are you doing here?"

"You know my dad lives in New York."

"Oh…um… this was the New York you were talking about…" Brooke was playing dumb now, she couldn't help it, she couldn't think of anything else!

"Brooke…" Chase said, "What's going on."

Tina came over to see what was going on. Brooke glared at her, as she slipped threw Chase's arms.

"Well… it's a funny ummm story actually." Brooke said

"We'd love to hear it Brooke." Tina snapped.

Chase was waiting impatiently now, "Well?"

"I'm not going to lie to you Chase," Brooke said, "I feel hurt that you would want to take her to deal threw this, and not me."

"Well excuse me, but I'm his girlfriend."

"Well excuse me, but I'm his BEST friend." She said emphasizing the best.

"He's just going to have to pick which one is more important." Tina said as her and Brooke turned to face Chase.

Chase raised his eyebrows and tried to change the topic, "Brooke what are you doing here?"

"I told you; I'm not going to let you go threw this by yourself."

"He's not alone, I'm with him."

"Oh you're much good, you'll just have sex with him, and that's NOT what he needs. He needs someone he can talk to; someone that can help him go threw this."

"Oh really?" Tina asked, "Well where the hell were you last night when he found out that his dad is sewing his mom for soul custody? Was it a date with the captain of the football team?"

Brooke pushed Tina out of the way and told her to shut up.

"You're dad is sewing your mom?"

"Yeah." Chase said with his head down.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, like Tina said, you weren't around." Chase said and headed for the door with Tina.

He was leaving, Brooke couldn't let him leave until she told him that she loved him and she wanted to be with him for good times and bad. She wanted to be the one he was lying next to in bed, not Tina.

"Chase!" she screamed.

Chase turned around slowly and faced her.

"There's another reason I came all this way." Brooke said.

"I'm listening…"

"I'm in love with you Chase." Brooke said.

* * *

Author's Note : I hope everyone is enjoying reading the fanfic. i know this chapter is a little long, but a lot of things needed to be covered in this chapter. i hope you guys like the relationships and friendships i've devellopped. 

i really want to say thanks to Katie, Anna, Penny and Megan for having my back, and telling me to continue this story, because to tell you guys the truth, i was going to quit, and stop writing for good. but i've decided not to, for now at least.

Please leave your comments and reviews i'd love to hear back from you guys. 3

thanks,

Amanda

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Comment : hey guys. sorry i haven't updated in a while. But i've been working, and it's just crazy around here, anyways, i felt like i had to write a little something , so here it is, i warn you it's short . thanks for sticking to the story you guys 3

- Amanda

Chapter 11

Chase couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Brooke just say that she loved him? He raised his eyebrows in confusion. "You what?" he asked her

"I love you Chase." Brooke replied twirling a hair with her finger.

"I love you too." Chase said with a smiled and walked up to Brooke and kissed her. Brooke put her arms around Chase's neck, and smiled.

Too bad this was a dream, one hot dream though. Chase was shaking Brooke, Brooke had zoned out, but she wasn't sure if she had told him that she loved him yet. Brooke zoned out of her virtual reality, and shook her head. Chase looked at her weirdly. Oh no, she had told him about her feelings and he didn't feel the same way. Brooke looked down and then looked at Chase.

"So?" Chase asked, "What was the other reason?"

Brooke was shocked, she hadn't told him yet. This was a good thing, she didn't just want to blurt it out, and she wanted it to be romantic and well planned out. Brooke hesitated to answer. "I came because um..." Brooke paused as she saw a advertisement for the new Rock Slide amusement park opening that weekend, "That amusement park that you wanted to go to, just opened and i ummm, bought tickets for us tomorrow after you see your dad"

Chase smiled; he was the one that had told Brooke about the amusement park, and told her once it opened, they would be the first ones in. He went to go give her a hug and thanked her for remembering. "I remember everything Chase."

* * *

Nathan realized that Rachel was a really fast runner; he actually had to sprint to catch up to her. He ran as quickly as he could and grabbed onto her arm. Rachel looked towards him, her eyes covered in tears. "What are you doing here?"

"Rach, I couldn't just leave you there. You've got the wrong idea, I'm not in love with Haley." Nathan stated.

"You're not?"

"No, she's just one of my best friends, and I care about her very much. I don't want anything to happen to her." Nathan said.

"But …"

"No buts" Nathan said, "Rachel, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

He held her hands, and walked her over to the water fountain and they sat on the ledge. He looked her in the eyes and said, "This school year has been really confusing. I mean, it's a new school, new people."

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, I really like you Rachel." Nathan said

Rachel said, "You mean as a friend right?"

Nathan shook his head, "More then that."

Rachel smiled; she felt the same way about Nathan, she just couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I want us to be together." Nathan said and brought her in his arms and kissed her. Rachel started to feel all tingly inside. Nathan was a really good kisser, probably the best she ever kissed. Rachel pulled away, "But wait when did this all happen?"

"Well…Rach, it's always been you. Since the moment I saw you, I knew I wanted to be the one standing next to you, good times and bad." Nathan said, "But the whole college jerk thing happened, and I wanted to give you space so you could get ov…"

Nathan was interrupted by Rachel's lips touching his. She pulled him in close, and then put her head on his shoulder. Nathan and Rachel both liked each other, nothing or no one was going to keep them from being together.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Now, Rachel wasn't sure what was going to happen between Nathan and herself. They hadn't really talked about it. They had shared this amazing kiss, then Nathan left to go see what was bothering Haley. Rachel received a text message from Brooke saying that she really needed to talk to her. Rachel called Brooke up and Brooke answered her phone.

"Rachel!" Brooke screamed.

"What's going on!"

"I couldn't tell Chase I loved him. he was with Tine, he brought HER to go threw all the heartache with his dad."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah, but not for very long. He drove me to a hotel and we haven't spoken since."

"Call him."

"I can't…" Brooke said, "he's with … her."

"Tell him you need to talk to him privately."

"Tine won't let him, she knows I'm after him."

"Oh boy" Rachel said, but sounded distracted.

"What's going on with you?" Brooke asked

"Me and Nate kissed." Rachel said with a smile.

"You what!" Brooke freaked out.

"Yeah I know" Rachel said, "I can't believe it myself."

"That's so amazing."

"Well, I got to go, but um, good luck and I love you babe."

"I love you too."

Brooke closed her phone and put it in her bag. She had to get tickets for Rock Slide. She had been waiting in line for over two hours now. She looked in front of her and there were at least 50 people in front of her. She couldn't take it anymore. She rushed threw the line and heard people cursing behind her. She reached the front of the line and asked for two tickets for the next day.

"I'm sorry miss, but we've run out of tickets."

"What!" Brooke said furiously, "Listen lady, I've been waiting her for over two hours and my feet hurt and I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. You see, the man I love really wants to get in here tomorrow and I told him I already had tickets. So please"

"I can't miss."

Brooke started to cry. The lady at the desk told her to step away. She went to go sit on a park bench and had her face in her hands. A little girl with an ice cream sat down next to her. Brooke looked up and saw the little girl licking her ice cream. "Why are you crying lady?" she asked.

"Well, this boy I'm in love with wants tickets to Rock Slide tomorrow and they're sold out.

"I have two extra tickets." She said

Brooke looked at the little girl like she was her saviour.

"You think I could I don't know … have them?"

"It's going to cost."

"Okay," Brooke said, "What your price?"

"You'll go on the tilt-a-whirl with me?"

Brooke smiled, "Sure."

Lucas and Peyton had had sex that afternoon. Lucas looked at Peyton who had been very quiet all afternoon. Something was bothering her and Lucas wanted to know what it was.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

Lucas nodded, but didn't believe her.

"I was a virgin" Peyton said out of no where.

Lucas turned to face her quickly.

"You know, never had sex before…"

Lucas was speechless.

"Wow."

"wow what? Good wow? Bad wow?"

"That was a good wow. You were amazing, I thought it would have been at least your 5th time."

Peyton looked down shyly. They had rushed threw it, and they both didn't get the signifigance of sex. You were supposed to be physically ready, which they both weren't.

"One of the biggest things that happened in our lives that was supposed to be romantic and planned was rushed. It was a huge thing and we messed it up." Peyton told him.


End file.
